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Emma Bee Bernstein, a 23-year-old feminist photographer, died a couple of weeks ago. Jess and I both had the privilege of meeting her through her innovative project GIRLDrive, which we’ve blogged about previously. Emma and partner-in-crime, Nona Willis Aronowitz, hit the road and interviewed and photographed young women talking about their relationship to feminism. It morphed into a book which will be released on Seal Press in the near future. Read more about both Emma and Nona here.
I met Emma only twice, but her presence left a real impression on me. She had a quality of wild aliveness–animated about philosophy and art, dramatic about the ins and outs of her young, exciting life, literally bursting. ...

Emma Bee Bernstein, a 23-year-old feminist photographer, died a couple of weeks ago. Jess and I both had the privilege of meeting her through her innovative project GIRLDrive, which we’ve blogged about previously. Emma and ...

It takes a certain je ne sais quoi to unabashedly argue in favor of marital rape. Of course columnist Dennis Prager doesn’t call it that. No no, he prefers to use some sort of bizarre high school logic about how ladies who really love their man will “give her body” on demand.

It is an axiom of contemporary marital life that if a wife is not in the mood, she need not have sex with her husband. Here are some arguments why a woman who loves her husband might want to rethink this axiom.

And here I thought the “if you really loved me” argument was only relegated to after-school specials! How wrong I was.

First, women need to ...

It takes a certain je ne sais quoi to unabashedly argue in favor of marital rape. Of course columnist Dennis Prager doesn’t call it that. No no, he prefers to use some sort of ...

As you all know I’m on a road trip through the South these few weeks. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions about places to visit–I’m psyched to check them out. To share things will all of you from my trip I’m going to do some reviews from the road. Mostly sex shops (to continue on with the previousseries) but also other cool places I discover along the way.

Our first stop was Asheville, North Carolina. We wandered into Vavavooom, a woman-owned lingerie and sex toy shop. The large window display on a main downtown Asheville street lured me in and the shop did not disappoint. As Lisa Ziemer, co-owner of the store admits, “it’s ...

As you all know I’m on a road trip through the South these few weeks. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions about places to visit–I’m psyched to check them out. To share things will all ...

When my sister, Rachel Spicuglia, a five-year employee of Chili’s Restaurant (owned by Brinker International), reported to her manager the escalating sexual harassment she was receiving from the cooks, which had culminated in an assault that morning in the walk-in refrigerator, the manager asked Rachel if the offending employee had gotten a “full cup” when he had grabbed her breasts. Shocked that the manager would joke in such way, Rachel protested that it wasn’t funny, but he insisted that it was actually information ...

Trigger warning
This is pretty devastating. Last Saturday in San Francisco, a lesbian was beaten and repeatedly raped by four men, while the perpetrators “made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation.” They then left the 28-year old naked outside of an abandoned apartment building, who was helped by someone living nearby.
This year has brought an increase in violence against LGBT individuals and a dramatic spike in murders resulting from LGBT hate crimes. And not surprisingly, some folks believe that anti-LGBT legislation such as California’s Prop 8 is what is fueling the fire. Avy Skolnik of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) responded:

“Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in ...

Trigger warning
This is pretty devastating. Last Saturday in San Francisco, a lesbian was beaten and repeatedly raped by four men, while the perpetrators “made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation.” They then left the ...

It’s been a year, hasn’t it?
The end of a year is when I like to give myself the gift of reflection. I’m a big fan of inner work and this is as good a time as any to take stock of what was before stepping toward what will be. When I sat down to write my thoughts on this past year my mind kept circling back to examine tolerance.
I’m not a fan of the School of Tolerance that has held court in the social justice world. People tolerate a stench or an annoying as hell person sitting next to them on a sold out flight to Phoenix…and as soon as the opportunity presents, those ...

It’s been a year, hasn’t it?
The end of a year is when I like to give myself the gift of reflection. I’m a big fan of inner work and this is as good a time ...